Beautiful Old Brick House Has Interesting Background

BEAUTIFUL OLD BRICK HOUSE
HAS INTERESTING BACKGROUND
(Photo by Star Staff Photographer.)
HOUSE AT PENNSYLVANIA AND ELEVENTH STREETS.
BT AGNES M'CULLOCH HANNA.
The twin house to that of Edward
Howard was built in the Martindale
addition, lot No. 1, of that newly
platted residence section at the
northeast corner of Eleventh and
Pennsylvania streets. The Ferguson
sisters had been married in a double
ceremony, the first of its kind in the
First Presbyterian Church, at Pennsylvania and New York streets.
The house was and is beautiful.
It is built of red brick with stone
trim. There is a porch on the south
with an entrance into the rear or
transverse hall. The detail of the
small elliptical windows on either
side of that door is as carefully
worked out as are the larger and
more striking features of the reveals
of the front door. The curved windows show the meticulous care expended on these two residences. This
house was standing when Mr. and
Mrs. Albert E. Fletcher built their
somewhat larger house next door.
The stone tables under the front
windows are like those on the
Fletcher house, and the carving on
the balcony varies only slightly. The
ribbon carving on the front doorway
is the same as that on the sister
house and both show strong foreign
influence. This house has center
halls up and down stairs, with family living rooms to the south and a
drawing room to the north. These
houses were built when this was
new residence territory for our cit-
izens, and few houses of either
brick or wood of the Georgian type
had been erected. Since D. A. Bohlen built the Ferguson house, he
probably was architect for both of
these also.
Neelds Go to Chicago.
Mary Frances Ferguson Neeld was
the oldest daughter of the James C.
Ferguson family, and she and her
sister had been educated in the
Georgetown academy, in Kentucky.
They were interested in the fine arts
and helped their friend and teacher,
Mrs. Starling, with her exhibits of
her pupils' work. Mrs. Neeld was
very pretty, with fair curly hair; by
all accounts she had very agreeable
manners, and lived in fitting style in
her handsome 'Georgian' home. To
have selected such a type of house
is proof of her fine taste and discrimination.
Nathan Neeld is one of the many
young men who came to our city
from a smaller community, a farm
near Bloomington. He was large in
frame, and of fine appearance. He
learned city ways rapidly and in his
association with Edward Howard
from Philadelphia, he soon came to
have ideas about expanding their
fortunes. He was first in the em-
ploy of Hibben, W. C. Tarkington &
Co. in wholesale dry goods. His
contact with the Chicago grain men
made him realize the opportunities
for making money quickly by trading on the market and he helped
to influence his wife's father to close
out his plants here and go to Chicago.
Some Indianapolis women, in trying to recall the details of the pageant-like wedding of these girls,
mention the names of Julia Hanna,
Kate Cockran of Virginia and Maria
Frazee as probable attendants. An
amusing story is told of Mrs. Neeld's
young girlhood in her father's home
where warm water piped throughout
was always good for a discussion.
Mrs. Neeld said that she had been
told that to use hot water on her
face would ruin her complexion, but
that she was willing to risk it, the
comfort was so great. The events of
later years of Mrs. Neeld are not
known.
House Is Sold.
After the Neelds went with the
other members of the family to Chi-
cago "to put the Armours out of
business" in the provision market,
this house was bought by Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Reese., Mrs. Reese
was the sister of Louis Hollweg.
She came here from Germany somewhat later than he and was married
over here. Her husband was a partner of Mr. Hollweg's. They were
importers of queensware and other
china products.
The daughter and son of the house,
Lillie and Louis, had many friends
here. They were very cordial and
warm-hearted, entertained often and
always beautifully. A particularly
intimate friend of Miss Lillie's was
Marion Rondthaler (Mrs. Fulton), a
daughter of the minister of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, which
then stood at Meridian and Eleventh
streets.
The Reese family went abroad
often and kept in touch with dear
old family customs. To be present
at a party in their home was to have
the best of German cooking with the
best of that in vogue here. For some
time before their tragic death, the
brother and sister were not very
well, and had withdrawn somewhat
from active social life. No one can
forget the warmth of their hospitality and their genuine desire to make
their guests happy. When death
came it was to them both. They
were driving with a companion, and
the three went to death together.
The entire town was shocked at the
triple tragedy. It was deeply regretted that there were no younger
members of the family to carry on
the tradition of good housekeeping
and thrift as well as hearty welcome always afforded their friends.
Miss Lillie was a faithful member of
the German Club here, but her
friends were quite as many outside
that group as within it.
Purchased by Mrs. Whitcomb.
Mrs. Whitcomb, the mother of
Larz Whitcomb, who died recently,
had always admired the house and
when it was placed on the market
she bought it for her home. She
was, however, so feeble as to live
there in seclusion for only a few
years. Now, with the sudden death
of her son, it will probably be sold
again.
It would be well if such beautiful
examples of brick residences might
be bought and made into the kind
of apartments that France and Italy
offer to discriminating tenants. The
best of the old dwellings are made
into "one family to a floor" homes,
leaving the exterior intact for the
delight of those who love stability
and good proportions.
This house stands among old
friends, for though there has been
some change, not all the old neighborhood houses are down. None of
them, however, is occupied by the
family for whom it was built. Mrs.
Michael Clune and Mrs. Ward Dean
and her son Randal are among the
few neighbors who were living during the Reeses' tenancy. No family
dates back to the time of the Neelds
and their active social life.

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Transcript

BEAUTIFUL OLD BRICK HOUSE
HAS INTERESTING BACKGROUND
(Photo by Star Staff Photographer.)
HOUSE AT PENNSYLVANIA AND ELEVENTH STREETS.
BT AGNES M'CULLOCH HANNA.
The twin house to that of Edward
Howard was built in the Martindale
addition, lot No. 1, of that newly
platted residence section at the
northeast corner of Eleventh and
Pennsylvania streets. The Ferguson
sisters had been married in a double
ceremony, the first of its kind in the
First Presbyterian Church, at Pennsylvania and New York streets.
The house was and is beautiful.
It is built of red brick with stone
trim. There is a porch on the south
with an entrance into the rear or
transverse hall. The detail of the
small elliptical windows on either
side of that door is as carefully
worked out as are the larger and
more striking features of the reveals
of the front door. The curved windows show the meticulous care expended on these two residences. This
house was standing when Mr. and
Mrs. Albert E. Fletcher built their
somewhat larger house next door.
The stone tables under the front
windows are like those on the
Fletcher house, and the carving on
the balcony varies only slightly. The
ribbon carving on the front doorway
is the same as that on the sister
house and both show strong foreign
influence. This house has center
halls up and down stairs, with family living rooms to the south and a
drawing room to the north. These
houses were built when this was
new residence territory for our cit-
izens, and few houses of either
brick or wood of the Georgian type
had been erected. Since D. A. Bohlen built the Ferguson house, he
probably was architect for both of
these also.
Neelds Go to Chicago.
Mary Frances Ferguson Neeld was
the oldest daughter of the James C.
Ferguson family, and she and her
sister had been educated in the
Georgetown academy, in Kentucky.
They were interested in the fine arts
and helped their friend and teacher,
Mrs. Starling, with her exhibits of
her pupils' work. Mrs. Neeld was
very pretty, with fair curly hair; by
all accounts she had very agreeable
manners, and lived in fitting style in
her handsome 'Georgian' home. To
have selected such a type of house
is proof of her fine taste and discrimination.
Nathan Neeld is one of the many
young men who came to our city
from a smaller community, a farm
near Bloomington. He was large in
frame, and of fine appearance. He
learned city ways rapidly and in his
association with Edward Howard
from Philadelphia, he soon came to
have ideas about expanding their
fortunes. He was first in the em-
ploy of Hibben, W. C. Tarkington &
Co. in wholesale dry goods. His
contact with the Chicago grain men
made him realize the opportunities
for making money quickly by trading on the market and he helped
to influence his wife's father to close
out his plants here and go to Chicago.
Some Indianapolis women, in trying to recall the details of the pageant-like wedding of these girls,
mention the names of Julia Hanna,
Kate Cockran of Virginia and Maria
Frazee as probable attendants. An
amusing story is told of Mrs. Neeld's
young girlhood in her father's home
where warm water piped throughout
was always good for a discussion.
Mrs. Neeld said that she had been
told that to use hot water on her
face would ruin her complexion, but
that she was willing to risk it, the
comfort was so great. The events of
later years of Mrs. Neeld are not
known.
House Is Sold.
After the Neelds went with the
other members of the family to Chi-
cago "to put the Armours out of
business" in the provision market,
this house was bought by Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Reese., Mrs. Reese
was the sister of Louis Hollweg.
She came here from Germany somewhat later than he and was married
over here. Her husband was a partner of Mr. Hollweg's. They were
importers of queensware and other
china products.
The daughter and son of the house,
Lillie and Louis, had many friends
here. They were very cordial and
warm-hearted, entertained often and
always beautifully. A particularly
intimate friend of Miss Lillie's was
Marion Rondthaler (Mrs. Fulton), a
daughter of the minister of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, which
then stood at Meridian and Eleventh
streets.
The Reese family went abroad
often and kept in touch with dear
old family customs. To be present
at a party in their home was to have
the best of German cooking with the
best of that in vogue here. For some
time before their tragic death, the
brother and sister were not very
well, and had withdrawn somewhat
from active social life. No one can
forget the warmth of their hospitality and their genuine desire to make
their guests happy. When death
came it was to them both. They
were driving with a companion, and
the three went to death together.
The entire town was shocked at the
triple tragedy. It was deeply regretted that there were no younger
members of the family to carry on
the tradition of good housekeeping
and thrift as well as hearty welcome always afforded their friends.
Miss Lillie was a faithful member of
the German Club here, but her
friends were quite as many outside
that group as within it.
Purchased by Mrs. Whitcomb.
Mrs. Whitcomb, the mother of
Larz Whitcomb, who died recently,
had always admired the house and
when it was placed on the market
she bought it for her home. She
was, however, so feeble as to live
there in seclusion for only a few
years. Now, with the sudden death
of her son, it will probably be sold
again.
It would be well if such beautiful
examples of brick residences might
be bought and made into the kind
of apartments that France and Italy
offer to discriminating tenants. The
best of the old dwellings are made
into "one family to a floor" homes,
leaving the exterior intact for the
delight of those who love stability
and good proportions.
This house stands among old
friends, for though there has been
some change, not all the old neighborhood houses are down. None of
them, however, is occupied by the
family for whom it was built. Mrs.
Michael Clune and Mrs. Ward Dean
and her son Randal are among the
few neighbors who were living during the Reeses' tenancy. No family
dates back to the time of the Neelds
and their active social life.